# JabRef Always Opens in BibLaTeX Mode (BibTeX Mode Desired)

**URL:** <https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-opens-in-biblatex-mode-bibtex-mode-desired/518>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [March 16, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-opens-in-biblatex-mode-bibtex-mode-desired/518 "2017-03-16T13:58:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![spontaneous-emission](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@spontaneous-emission](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/spontaneous-emission)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-opens-in-biblatex-mode-bibtex-mode-desired/518/1 "2017-03-16T13:58:20Z")

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I am using JabRef 3.8.2 on Windows 10. I open a large (shared) reference database that nominally in BibTeX format (there may be a few entries that are in BibLaTeX format) upon startup. This always opens in BibLaTeX mode and I have to manually switch to BibTeX mode with `File`-\>`Switch to BibTeX mode` even though I have set the `Preferences`-\>`General`-\>`Default bibliography mode` to `BibTeX`.

Is there any way to fix this? I have tried resetting preferences to default, but this still happens. I suspect that there are some lingering settings from a previous JabRef version; I had JabRef 2.9 installed and after uninstalling from `Programs & Features` and then installing JabRef version 3.8.2, it launched and opened the bibliography file that I was previously using. However, I am not sure whether default bibliography mode was set in v2.9.

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**Author:** ![spontaneous-emission](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@spontaneous-emission](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/spontaneous-emission)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-opens-in-biblatex-mode-bibtex-mode-desired/518/2 "2017-03-16T14:49:42Z")

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Issue resolved. This was due to `@Comment{jabref-meta:databaseType:biblatex;}` at the end of the `.bib` file. I checked the `Database properties`, but at least for V3.8.2, bibtex vs biblatex did not appear in this screen.